Signaling mirror



April 19-52 R. s. HUNTER 2,594,310

SIGNALING MIRROR Original Filed July 14, 1944 2 SI-lEETS-SI-EE'I' 1 ALL INVENTOR fF/c/m ED 5. hu/ TER Apr-ll 29, 1952 R. s. HUNTER 2,594,310,

SIGNALING MIRROR.

Original Filed July 14, 1944 2 Sl-lEETS-Sl-XEET 2 Recs-r 4. SUN

INVENTOR ATTORNEY P'atented Apr. 29, 1952 SIGNALING MIRROR Richard S. Hunter, Franklin Ifark, Va., assignor to the United States of America asrepresented by the Secretary of Commerce Original application July 14, 1944, Serial No.

544,969. Divided and this application October 10, 1949, Serial No. 120,582

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

3 Claims.

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G-. V57) The invention described herein may be manuiactured andused by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon in accordance with the provisions of the act of April 30, 1928 (ch. 460, 45 Stat. L. 467).

The invention relates to an improved signaling mirror by means of which a reflected beam of sunlight may be accurately and quickly directed from life rafts or small water craft upon an aircraft, water craft, lighthouse or the like, as well as for signaling on land, as between survey parties. ihis application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 544,969, filed July 14, 1944, now U. S. Patent No. 2,504,982 for, Signaling Mirrors.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my device.

Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing my device with one of my color screens in operative position.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the direction of reflection and refraction of the sun to the senders eye.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the directions of reflection from the mirror and surface of the color screen.

In these drawings the mirror comprises a clear glass sheet I I having a reflecting back I2 in which there is a sighting opening l3. A retrodirective reflector i i in a frame [5 is mounted on a hinge it having an attaching leaf H which is secured to the mirror by means of a tubular rivet l8 which fits in a hole in the glass sheet II and a mirror engaging clamp It. The tubular rivet l8 also serves as a means for securing a suitable suspending cord not illustrated in this divisional application.

The reflector i4 is shown in operative position 1 and 2, the latter view showing that in Figures the retrodirective reflector makes an acute angle with the mirror and also showing the pintle 2| of the hinge It at a distance from the mirror back it less than the thickness of the reflector l4 and frame l5. This predetermined distance of the pintle 2| from the mirror back fixes the minimum acute angle between the mirror and the frame iii of the retrodirective reflector Hi. My signaling mirror would be operative if the hinge 16 were eliminated and a rigid attachment substituted for it, but the hinge makes possible folding my retrodirective reflector about the pintle 2|. Two resilient catches 22 releasably hold it in inoperative position when the device is transported or stored.

A color screen 23 (Figures 1, 2 and 4) provided with an opening 25 corresponding with the window i3 is detachably secured in front of the mirror by a pair of resilient clips 24 with a substantial linear contact with the right-hand edge of the figure but elsewhere held at a slight angle with the mirror by the clamps it. This is for the purpose of separating the colored beam of reflected light from the white light reflected from the front surface of the color screen, as indicated in Figure 4. This separation of the colored and uncolored beams of reflected light I have found necessary to avoid a serious dilution of the color of the transmitted signal.

Figures 3 and 4 diagrammatically illustrates the operation of my device in which adjusted position rays of the sun strike my mirror at an angle oblique to the vertical and are reflected to a target (such as an airplane, not shown) on the opposite side of the vertical and making an angle equal to the first oblique angle, as is well known in optics.

However, without some means for directing this reflected light at the target, it is a matter of chance and accident whether or not the sender of a distress signal may attract the attention of an airplane pilot. My device provides a means for forming for the sender a virtual image of the sun, which image shifts as the mirror is tilted. The virtual image of the sun is produced by refraction and reflection of a portion of the sunbeam which falls within the sighting opening [3. These rays of sunlight pass through the glass sheet H, and leave the glass to fall on the retroreflector M. This r-etroreflector exactly reverses the directions of rays which strike it, therefore the beam of sunlight returns to the window [3 where a portion is reflected to the eye of a sender, indicated in dotted lines, and produces in his eye a virtual image of the sun which appears to him as a luminous disk in the .direction from which these reflected rays approach his eye. This direction, as can be seen in Figure 3, is the direction in which reflected rays of sunlight leave the plane mirror ll, l2. This virtual image therefore indicates to the observer the direction of his mirrorreflected signal of sunlight.

When he turns the mirror to superimpose this image of the sun upon the target, he knows that his signal is properly directed.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration and that the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. A signaling device including a mirror having a window of transparent refractive material, a retrodirective reflector facing said window and nonparallel with said mirror, the improvement which comprises a color shield having an opening corresponding with the window of said mirror and means for operatively uniting said color screen over said mirror and at a slight angle thereto.

2. A signaling device including a mirror having a window of transparent re'frahtive material, a retrodirective reflector facing said window at an acute angle, the improvement which comprises a color screen having an opening in alignment with said window and means for detachably uniting said mirror and screen with all parts of the surface of the screen mounted at a slight angle with the plane of said mirror.

3. In combination with a signaling device comprising a mirror having a window of transparent REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,412,616 Hunter Dec. 17, 1946 2,467,165 Stimson Apr. 12, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 117,760 Australia Nov. 10, 1-943 

